


Something Old, Something New

by Pence



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Injections Mention, M/M, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 12:45:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9124237
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pence/pseuds/Pence
Summary: In the years that Jack and Gabriel had known each other, they had never had what they would consider a proper Christmas. Whether interrupted by SEP induced sickness or the shrill metal of an omnic's maw, neither man could find the right way to express the gratitude they felt for one another.This Christmas would be different, surely.--"The Gift of the Magi"-based story for Edgelaur, the edgiest of all losers.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [EdgeLaur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/EdgeLaur/gifts).



When Gabriel had been eleven, he’d shattered three fingers in his right hand and torn ligaments in his wrist. The pain had been unimaginable in those few brief moments between being struck by the car, thrown from his bike, and blacking out on sun-warmed pavement. Agony kept the memories in a semblance of order in his head; the ambulance arriving, the whirring gears of the medic as it set his wrist, and the soothing drip-drop of morphine lulling the panicked youth into a drugged stupor.

But those scattered moments were nothing compared to the lava racing through his veins now. Ignoring the pocked injection sites littering his forearm, the man tried to summon the tolerance for pain he’d learned in his youth by staring at the faint kinks in the set of his fingers. Fever made rational thought difficult and the man could only grit his teeth as he curled deeper into the cocoon of sheets. There was no source to the pain; nothing Gabriel could smother and ignore. He was too hot, too cold, too jittery, too stiff. 

When he tried to close his eyes and sleep, every wave of pain came with a mirrored burst of adrenaline that urged his aching body to do *something*. But all the soldier found himself capable of doing was twisting strong fingers into the thread-bare linens of his bed and scream mutely into his pillow. 

This latest round of injections had been three days ago and he still could not sleep. It wasn’t uncommon for injection days to incapacitate the test subjects but this was a first for Gabriel Reyes. Being able to do little more than stare into the shadows of his ceiling and struggle his way to the bathroom was frustrating and humiliating. 

If he were a less composed man, he might have whimpered pitifully as the door to his bunk opened with a deafening (at least to his ears) crack. Even with his back turned away, the light from the hallway was too much for his oversensitive eyes. 

He didn’t need to look back to know who had entered. 

“… S-shut the door, Morrison.” 

Whispered apologies chased his grunt and, with another *loud* click, the light was banished once more. Silence returned, broken only but the short gasps Gabriel pulled into his aching chest and careful footsteps crossing the room. He couldn’t seem to get enough air into his lungs and even that hadn’t been enough to knock him into unconsciousness. 

At this point, he was praying to die. 

“They really did a number on you, huh?” 

“Fuck y-you.” 

Soft laughter lingered above the grumpy man, throaty and harsh to his ears. Cracking open an eye, Gabriel could do little more than glare grumpily from the folds of his pillow at the blond man standing at his side. With another grunt and grumble, he shifted himself over to allow the familiar and comforting weight of the younger man to sink into the mattress. 

If some traveler from the future had told him three months ago that he’d be sharing a bed with an essential stranger for comfort, he might have laughed in disbelief. But these top-secret trials were nothing any ordinary man could go through unchanged. Alone. 

An intimacy had blossomed between the two men born of desperation and discomfort. Pride was something that had to be left at the door once trials began and solace was found quickly in eachother’s presence. Whether knocking shoulders after physical training or holding eachother at night, Gabriel felt only what he could associate as a sense of *home* and *family*. 

Not that he would ever admit such a thing aloud. 

“Do you know what day it is?” 

Gabriel could do little more than grumble incoherently as he laid his head in Jack’s lap once the man had settled. While harsh and bland to his nose, he took comfort in the fresh smell of the standard military shower gel they all had received upon arrival. 

Fingers found their way into Gabriel’s sweat soaked hair and raked comforting passes against his scalp. 

“It’s Christmas.” 

His shoulders tensed. “What?” 

“Uh… Y’know. Santa? Reindeer? Uh, Jes—“ 

“Shut up. I know… I just… Already? Are they letting us call home?” 

He didn’t need to look up to know the look on Jack’s face. 

“…Nah. But, I mean, my family knows that I’m in some hush-hush government program so… I dunno. Maybe when we get out of the drug phase.” 

God, that will be the day. 

“I see...” 

While it wouldn’t be the first Christmas he hadn’t spent at home with his family, having been a part of the United States military for years before being selected for SEP, he’d always found the time to send a message to his mother. While he knew that she’d forgive him for anything, guilt seemed to burn just as hot as whatever was seeping through his body. 

Gabriel sighed as he closed his eyes, trying instead to focus on the younger man’s heartbeat thumping lightly through muscle and thick sweats. A comfortable silence settled between the two men and it was not long before Jack’s fingers disappeared from Gabriel’s hair. Soon after, soft clicks of metal sounded into the quiet room. As oppressive as every little sound had been, he found himself mesmerized by their patterned clicks and clacks; like a wordless, noteless lullaby. 

“When…did you start to knit, Morrison?” 

“Huh? O-oh, ha. Uh—“ 

The needles stopped singing abruptly. He didn’t need to look up to know the other man was blushing scarlet. All it took was the tone of his voice and the skip of the heartbeat beneath his ear. 

“Well… My grandma taught me. “ 

“Your grandma tau—“ 

“Don’t make fun of—“ 

“I just want to know. I’m not making fun of you.” 

A soft huff sounded from above and Gabriel smiled as Jack resumed knitting. “I dunno… Winters in Indiana varied often. With the whole… global warming crisis, you never knew if it would be a mild or brutal winter until you were in the thick of it. God bless the Midwest.” 

Jack had a rumbling laugh that would start in his chest and radiate outward. The aching man could feel the vibrations through the trembling thigh. “We didn’t have cable or inter—Yes, Gabriel, even in this day and age. So… I dunno. My grandma taught me at my request when I was eight during a snowstorm and I haven’t stopped. I just… It’s relaxing.” 

“Well that wasn’t at all the interesting story I was hoping for.” 

“Shut up and sleep.” 

Turning his grin into the fabric of Morrison’s pant leg, he closed his eyes intending to do just that. 

And for the first time in 36 hours, Gabriel Reyes fell asleep to the song of needles dancing and a heartbeat fluttering beneath his ear. 

*** 

The room was still dark when Gabriel woke nearly ten hours later; sunlight attempting to crawl through the curtains but just barely brushing the edges of his bed. 

The pain had significantly lessened some time during the night and he groaned lightly in relief. Disentangling himself from the blond man passed out at his side, he snorted in amusement at the knitting needles lying discarded on the floor. 

As he prepared to get up to stretch his limbs and seek out the bathroom, a small lump on his pillow caught his attention. A black mass of knitted yarn was bundled tenderly around a note torn quickly from a notebook, binding still on the side. 

“Merry Chirstmas, you grumpy asshole ~ J.Morrison.” 

Brows rising in surprise, Gabriel unfolded the present only to be stabbed by another wave of guilt. He hadn’t thought to get anything for Jack in the time they’d known each other, even with Christmas around the corner. And the fucking ass had the nerve to do…. this. 

With a light blush, Gabriel pulled the knit beanie over his head and stomped his way out of the room toward the showers, contemplating how he’d get his revenge for this…stupid, well-made gift. 

He missed the snort of tired amusement as the door clicked shut behind him.

**Author's Note:**

> Because I'm a trashcan, I can only manage this in three parts. #Dealwithit #Pleasebenicetome


End file.
